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The Red Book Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,159 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The Big Chill meets The Group in Deborah Copaken Kogan's wry, lively, and irresistible new novel about a once-close circle of friends at their twentieth college reunion.
Clover, Addison, Mia, and Jane were roommates at Harvard until their graduation in 1989. Clover, homeschooled on a commune by mixed-race parents, felt woefully out of place. Addison yearned to shed the burden of her Mayflower heritage. Mia mined the depths of her suburban ennui to enact brilliant performances on the Harvard stage. Jane, an adopted Vietnamese war orphan, made sense of her fractured world through words.
Twenty years later, their lives are in free fall. Clover, once a securities broker with Lehman, is out of a job and struggling to reproduce before her fertility window slams shut. Addison's marriage to a writer's-blocked novelist is as stale as her so-called career as a painter. Hollywood shut its gold-plated gates to Mia, who now stays home with her four children, renovating and acquiring faster than her director husband can pay the bills. Jane, the Paris bureau chief for a newspaper whose foreign bureaus are now shuttered, is caught in a vortex of loss.
Like all Harvard grads, they've kept abreast of one another via the red book, a class report published every five years, containing brief autobiographical essays by fellow alumni. But there's the story we tell the world, and then there's the real story, as these former classmates will learn during their twentieth reunion weekend, when they arrive with their families, their histories, their dashed dreams, and their secret yearnings to a relationship-changing, score-settling, unforgettable weekend.
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"I loved The Red Book! It was a great read on so many levels -- from the reference to the legendary Grateful Dead "Cornell '77" show on page one to the philosophical reflections of the eulogizing reunion attendees at the end. I grew up in Addison's world but related in some way to all the major characters. I laughed, I cried and I felt like I grew up right along with them (which I did -- also having graduated from college in 1989). The book was so real, a dead-on description of my micro-generation from our late teens to mid-40s (and I so appreciated never once being described as Gen X). Ms. Kogan captures our youthful attitudes and experiences as well as our grown-up issues and realizations. The writing is on the lighter side of literary, but the content is quite profound."
— Lucy (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Destined to be a classic.”
— Vanity Fair -
“Utterly engrossing.”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“The Big Chill for the Facebook generation.”
— Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon
The Red Book Listener Reviews
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" For any Harvard College alumni, this book about 4 friends at their 25th reunion is a must-read. "
— Summer, 2/8/2014 -
" Very enjoyable. Quick read. "
— Rachel, 1/30/2014 -
" I liked the stories interwoven using the Harvard reunion red book connections. I felt Kogan gave a glimpse into a group of Harvard grads twenty years later. Not a portrait of a cross section of an age group, but Harvard grads, some privileged and some not. It might have worked without the bio forms, but I loved that part. "
— Amber, 1/23/2014 -
" Enjoyable but lacking something... it was just a little too sitcom-y or joke-y for me to appreciate the intended depth and reflection contained within. No character was likeable, but that's not a fault, just something to point out. "
— Noralo, 1/17/2014 -
" I COULD READ THIS ONE OVER AT A LATER DATE! "
— Ladyyvonne3817, 1/16/2014 -
" Liked it. Harvard grads reunite at their 20th reunion. Lifes triumphs and trials are remembered, then more life happens. "
— Deena, 1/10/2014 -
" Really enjoyed the realistic thoughts about being in your 40s. Lots of laughs and even teared up once as well. "
— Stacey, 1/6/2014 -
" I liked the setting of the book and the idea of past and present effecting all the characters but the overall plot was not interesting enough for me and too many characters made the story confusing. "
— Cheryl, 1/5/2014 -
" A good summer read about roommates at their 20th Harvard reunion. "
— Mary, 12/29/2013 -
" Actually, couldn't get through it, not because of the writing: that was good. I just didn't care for the story line: it's been done and done and done. "
— Marguerite, 12/14/2013 -
" Very good book. Interestingly organized. By the end, I wanted to know about everyone else in the class. "
— Kenda, 12/12/2013 -
" I was surprised I actually reallly liked this book.. "
— Sharon, 12/2/2013 -
" Interesting concept but not greatly executed. Plot revolves around the 20th reunion of some Harvard classmates, but everything gets wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste. Not entirely believable....a family in financial ruins somehow manages to send a daughter to Bennington Colllege. Really? "
— Kathy, 11/30/2013 -
" I enjoyed this. It was definately crazy how everything unfolded. Definately a good summer read! "
— Jenn, 11/28/2013 -
" I love books like Kogan's, rich novels populated by interesting characters who give you peeks into the inner-workings of their minds and lives. Dishy and dramatic, The Red Book is the perfect spring read! "
— Lauren, 10/14/2013 -
" Gen X does The Big Chill and The Group. "
— Mari, 9/4/2013 -
" I just couldn't relate to the characters or feel any connection with their stories or their lives. "
— Marlene, 8/27/2013 -
" I'm sure this book is more popular up north where Ivy League educations are more common. It's about fidelity, authenticity and life's journey. Enjoyed the premise but didn't identify with ANY of the characters nor did I want to! "
— Becky, 7/18/2013 -
" Below mediocre beach read. "
— Charity, 7/1/2013 -
" A great device for bringing several different characters to light.... whose lives converged in college and then went so many separate ways. Covers a lifetime of ups and downs! Some great quotes and feelings to reflect upon.... very well written. "
— Anne, 6/7/2013 -
" Would definitely agree with previous reviews saying this is a great beach read (would do on a rainy Sunday too). I get the underlying themes in the book but for me it was a little more fluffy than I think it was intended to be. Overall, not a bad read. "
— Kristina, 9/30/2012 -
" What could be better than friends reuniting at their Harvard 20 year class reunion? "
— Allynson, 7/30/2012
About Deborah Copaken Kogan
Deborah Copaken Kogan worked as a photojournalist from 1988 to 1992, and her photographs appeared in Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, L’Express, Liberation, and Geo, among many other international newspapers and magazines. She spent the next six years in TV journalism, including a time as a producer for Dateline NBC. Her writings have appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, and elsewhere. She is a Harvard alumna. She lives in New York City with her husband, Paul Kogan, and their three children.
About the Narrators
Eliza Foss is an actress who has appeared in numerous theaters in New York City and around the country. She has narrated over thirty books and short stories, been featured in AudioFile magazine, and won five AudioFile Earphones Awards for her narrations.
Kate Udall is an experienced stage, television, and film actress. She has starred in numerous Broadway and off Broadway plays, including The Waves and Night of the Iguana. Her television credits include appearances on Law & Order and Blue Bloods. A graduate of Yale University, she lives in New York City.
Jennifer Ikeda has been narrating audiobooks since 2002. Among her readings are When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park; Just Listen by Sarah Dessen; and After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates. She has won six AudioFile Earphones Awards.
Robert Petkoff is an actor and audiobook narrator who has won a prestigious Audie Award and multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice. He has appeared on Chappelle’s Show, Law & Order, and Quantum Leap. His Broadway credits include Sir Robin in Spamalot, Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof, and Tateh in Ragtime.
Kathleen McInerney won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration in 2011 and was a finalist for the Audie in 2010 and 2015. Her narrations have also earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has performed in New York and around the United States in both classical and contemporary theater. Her credits also include television commercials, daytime drama, radio plays, and a broad range of animation voice-overs.